President Ranil Wickramasinghe chaired a meeting today (14) at the President’s Office discussing the pressing issues regarding Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector.
The President emphasized the urgency of ensuring that medicines are readily available and transparently tracked in the country. He instructed the Ministry of Health to maintain a special website reporting daily data on each hospital’s medicine inventory and total daily supply.
Additionally, the President instructed health authorities to submit proposals to amend the National Medicines Regulatory Authority Act (NMRA) to address drug shortages and to expedite the re-approval process of FDA-approved drugs in the country. The officials were also asked to explore the possibility of directly ordering drugs approved by the FDA and the UK to circumvent delays in the NMRA process.
The meeting also addressed issues related to the quality of imported drugs, equipment and vaccines, and incidents of staff negligence in health care institutions. The President stressed the importance of timely payments and preventing funds diversion while addressing arrears of medical equipment and service contracts. Transparency and financial accountability were highlighted, with the President instructing relevant authorities to sign documents to maintain transparency.
The President also appointed a committee to review the National Drug Regulatory Authority and submit a report within two weeks. He instructed officials to revise the regulations for recruitment of nurses and to register medical officers who are not yet registered in the Sri Lanka Medical Council.
Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, Presidential Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake, and other senior officials in the health sector were present in the discussion. The President’s emphatic stand and detailed instructions indicate his strong commitment to address the challenges faced by the healthcare sector in Sri Lanka urgently.
